AU Season Seven
by The Powers That Be1
Summary: 7.5: "Hollowed Hearts": Buffy is put under fire once again when Xander finds out she was hiding Spike's return to Sunnydale. Meanwhile, an ancient demon begins stealing souls to resurrect its long-dead master.
1. Disclaimer!

~DISCLAIMER~

Everything in regards to _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_ the television show belongs to Joss Whedon and his wonderfully brilliant team of writers and producers, Mutant Enemy productions, Twentieth Century Fox, UPN, Sandollar Television, and all of the wonderful actors and creators that go into the making of a truly genius show.

We have all the respect in the world for you people, and you have truly blessed us with this show. It is our hope to create something inspired by all of the great things the people who create _Buffy_ have done, and help ease the pain while Buffy and her friends are not currently slaying demons and saving the world on a weekly basis. Translation: we need Buffy, so we have to make our own!

We are not trying to infringe on anyone's rights by creating these plots or using these characters, places and ideas. It is only our hope to keep ourselves entertained and do something fun for other Buffy fans all over the world.

In short, please don't sue us. J 

Sincerely, 

The Powers That Be

(L.E. Lamkin and Finn Mac Cool)


	2. PreCredits Intro

****

Pre-Credits Intro

By Finn Mac Cool

Ext. - Over Sunnydale - Day

The town is filled with pleasent homes, businesses, and ambling cars and pedestrians.

Buffy (V.O.): Welcome to Sunnydale.

We pan across very normal people ranging from rich looking businessman to skateboarding teenager.

Buffy (V.O.) - It looks like a nice, normal town, doesn't it?

We see a coffee shop with people talking pleastly over cappucinos in it.

Buffy (V.O.) - Maybe during the day, it is.

The sun starts to set and the sky goes dark.

Buffy (V.O.) - But, after the sun goes down, things change.

We see people hurry into their homes nervously as their shadows dissappear.

Buffy (V.O.) - It's night when the creatures come out.

Several people step out of an abandoned warehouse, and we see from their fanged and lumpy faces that they are vampires.

A manhole cover is lifted up and a demon's claw slides out of it.

Buffy (V.O.) - I've seen the things that go bump in the night.

A tatooed man performs a blood ritual in a shadowy, candle filled room.

Buffy (V.O.) - I've seen them hunt. . .

A vampire bites a woman in an alley.

Buffy (V.O.) - and I've seen them kill.

A dark creature with massive horns watches a couple from behind a tree in the park.

Buffy (V.O.) - There are more terrors in this town than in anyone's worst nightmare.

Bats, larger than hawks, fly through the night air.

Buffy (V.O.) - No one can ever really defeat them. More always come to prey on the innocent.

A vampire starts to claw his way out of the grave.

Buffy (V.O.) - All I can do is save people, one life at a time.

The vampire looks up to see Buffy's face. She drives a stake into his heart and he turns to dust. Buffy walks silently out of the cemetery.

Buffy (V.O.) - I'm Buffy. The Vampire Slayer.


	3. 1: Home Sweet Hellmouth

****

Episode 7.1 "Home Sweet Hellmouth"

Written by: L.E. Lamkin

In the darkness of the cemetery, a snarling vampire is roaming amongst the headstones, searching for prey. Its apparent that the vampire has just risen from its grave, and is unsuspecting of its fate. Out of nowhere, a solid kick lands on the back of its head, sending it spiraling to the ground. The vampire looks up, surprised to see a lanky brunette female standing above him, clutching a stake – it's Dawn. Right behind her is Buffy and Xander, and they're all out for a patrol of Sunnydale, providing both encouragement and fighting tips.

~

Buffy: "The chest, the chest! Go for the chest!"

Dawn: "I know, I know!"

Xander: "Now you've got him, Dawnie!"

Buffy: "That kick was way too high!"

~

Dawn struggles with the vampire, until finally, she manages to dust him. Proud of herself, and excited that she gets to be involved in the demon fighting now that Buffy's been training her, Dawn leads the way out of the cemetery, their work for the night finally over.

What they don't notice, however, is a dark figure standing in the shadows not too far away from them, an eerie orange glow in their eyes. We see that the figure is vaguely human, but something is…off. The figure produces a cigaratte from the folds of his long jacket, and slips it in his mouth. Then, a moment later, a small burst of flame lights the tip of the cigarette from out of thin air, and he inhales deeply.

The next day, Buffy and Dawn are out shopping for new school clothes. Buffy admits that she misses Willow and Giles, and can't wait for them to get back from England, where Willow's been recuperating. Dawn agrees, and also wonders where another of their team has gone to. She's of course referring to Spike, and just the mention of the vampire's name gets Buffy a little bothered. She tells Dawn that they shouldn't worry about Spike. He's gone, she checked his crypt several times during the summer, and there was never a trace of him, just Clem. The Slayer tells her sister that they just need to forget about Spike, completely.

~

Buffy: "Spike doesn't figure into the equation anymore. He's gone."

Dawn: "I just wish I could talk to him, is all."

~

In England, in Giles's small, but comfortable home, Giles and Willow are having a therapy session. Willow talks about all the guilt she still feels. She wishes things hadn't happened the way they did last spring. Giles asks her if she regrets killing Warren, and after a long moment of silence, Willow finally answers no. Giles admits to her that back when they had been fighting Glory, he took matters into his own hands and killed Ben to keep them all safe and preventing Glory's return. Willow is shocked, but understands now that Giles is offering her his own kind of compassion. He knows what can happen to a person when extreme measures arise.

~

Giles: "Sometimes, the most favorable solution is not the best. Sometimes you have to do things you may regret. Do you have any regrets?"

Willow: "I regret treating everyone the way I did. But what happened to Warren? I will never regret that."

~

Willow is ready to go back home. She misses her friends, and she wants to be sure they will accept her back into the fold. But she knows nothing will ever be the same again. Giles comforts her, and reminds her that her trial is coming up. The Watcher's Council, along with the Devon Coven, must decide if Willow is now fit to return to her normal life. She knows she is ready, and is confident that the Council will see that her therapy and magick-using lessons have gone well.

Back in Sunnydale, night has fallen. Buffy, Dawn and Xander are wandering the streets of Sunnydale together, heading towards the Bronze. Suddenly, shouts are heard up the street, and Buffy runs to see what's going on, and what's causing panic.

~

Dawn: "Does the Slayer ever get a night off?"

Buffy: "In this town? Never."

~

Turns out, a fire has started up in town. A building has been sent up in blazing flames, and Dawn and Xander look on in horror as Buffy asks around to see if anyone saw what happened. Someone mentions they saw a suspicious guy walking around the side of the building before the fire started, so Buffy leaves her friend and sister behind with the other onlookers to pursue the possible culprit.

In a side alley, beside the raging building, Buffy confronts the dark stranger.

~

Buffy: "Looks like somebody's been watching too much _Beavis and Butt-Head_."

~

The stranger is vaguely human, but it is obvious there's demon in him, as well. Hidden beneath a mangy head of hair, pointed ears can be made out, with ridges along the forehead much like a vampire. His eyes are glowing a soft orange, and Buffy immediately deduces that this is her demon. Insults fly, and the demon threatens Buffy that "the Higher Powers will be coming". Whatever that means. Buffy ignores the demon's threats, and starts to fight. After a short, but intense battle, Buffy realizes that the burning building was only a rouse to lure the Slayer out, and that she's dealing with something more than a run-of-the-mill demon. Just barely escaping from being burned to death, Buffy takes off from the alley, scared for her life.

After re-grouping at Casa de Summers, Buffy retells the events of what happened with "the lost, absolutely insane member of the Fantastic Four". The trio is at a loss. There isn't anyone around who was usually good at the research thing: no Giles, no Willow…Dawn suggests they give Anya a call. She reasons that since she's a demon again, she's probably up to date on all-things supernatural in Sunnydale these days. Xander is uncomfortable, for obvious reasons, but Buffy agrees that it's their best shot. 

Xander agrees at length, and after a desperate phone call, Anya agrees to come over and help them, as long as she doesn't have to talk to Xander. Xander's hurt by this, but he knows it's all for the greater good.

~

Xander: "My ex-girlfriend may want to feed my guts to a hell-beast, but she's the only one who might know how to stop our resident pyromaniac."

~

With her newly regained demon-y powers, Anya teleports into Buffy's living room, overhearing the last bit of Xander's mini-rant. She tells him she doesn't want to feed his guts to hell-beast, but at this point she may settle with letting a toe-biting demon playing with his feet for awhile. The now ex-human's welcome isn't exactly warm, and tension is high between everyone in the house. But Dawn broaches the subject about the fire-crazed demon that seems to be after Buffy. After hearing Buffy's description, Anya immediately tells them they're dealing with a Grifaldi demon.

~

Anya: "Half-human, half-demons. Highly devoted to whatever they worship. Pretty much a lower being when it comes to demons. But they're strong. And they never give up. Oh, and they can create fire by using their minds."

Buffy: "I noticed that."

~

At a loss for what to do, and with no plan, Xander suggests they switch on the news to see if the Grifaldi demon is wracking havoc elsewhere. Just as he suspected, there's a news report about mysterious fires popping up all over Sunnydale. Near the hospital, by the police station. Buffy realizes that this demon is trying to throw their town into anarchy, and if it isn't stopped soon, it will succeed.

Across the pond, morning has come, and Giles and Willow are nervously awaiting to be called into the trial room that sits in the heart of the Watcher's Council's head quarters in London. Willow is antsy, afraid that the Council might not agree with their points and the Devon Coven's claims that she is well again. She wonders why they even have to make the final decision. Giles explains to her that she violated many laws when she delved into the black arts, and the Council is the most powerful driving force in the supernatural world, and so it's within their jurisdiction to watch over not just the Slayer, but other major players in the supernatural realm.

Once on trial, Quentin Travers and other high-up officials in the Council question Willow quite harshly about the events that occurred in Sunnydale just months before. They probe into Tara's untimely death, and ask Willow what truly motivated her into going so deep into the black arts. They even so much as reach all the way back to asking Willow just why she decided to resurrect Buffy in the first place, noting that has her first step into dangerous territory. Willow has a break down of sorts, and can only mumble apologies over and over through her tears.

Giles and the Devon Coven come to her defense. Giles pleads with the Council that Willow has suffered enough. She lost someone she deeply loved, and in a brutal, off-hand kind of way. Giles tells the Council that he knows exactly how she must have felt. His old girlfriend, Jenny Calendar was killed in much the same manner, and he felt the intense burning desire for revenge. The Devon Coven explains to the Council that, as witnesses, they can testify that Willow has been cleansed of all dark magicks, and that she has progressed remarkably. After a tense and heavy moment, Quentin finally agrees to let Willow return home, under Giles's care.

In Sunnydale, Buffy asks Anya if she will stay at the house and look after Dawn, who complains that she's practically sixteen years old and can defend herself now. But Buffy tells her that she isn't ready for something this dangerous, and that if something should come up, then Anya can teleport to Buffy to let her know. Dawn reluctantly agrees, and Buffy and Xander head out into different sections of town to search for the Grifaldi demon. For a time, their searches are fruitless. They seem to be one step behind the demon at every place they come to. Fires are quickly spreading everywhere in Sunnydale, and the police and fire forces are working double time to try and keep people safe. Finally, Buffy hits pay dirt when she finds the Grifaldi demon skulking around near the Bronze.

Turns out, Buffy's suspicions were true. The Grifaldi demon tells her that he is one of many, that there are "hundreds of other followers of the Higher Powers". And that they're all priming themselves for the destruction of Sunnydale. But Buffy is adamant in telling the demon he won't succeed.

~

Buffy: "This is my town. And I make the rules."

Grifaldi demon: "Not anymore. Soon, you will answer to the Ancient Ones."

~

Buffy and the Grifaldi fight for a second time, and Buffy seems to gain the upper hand, if only for a moment. Then, in a sudden movement, the Grifaldi grips Buffy by the neck, and smoke starts to rise from her skin. He slowly begins to burn her, and she almost doesn't escape. She kicks him where it counts, allowing herself to be freed, with a very nasty sun-burn like mark on her lower neck. The demon threatens that this isn't over between them, and that he has other plans for them. The demon takes off, and Buffy is completely shaken. She nearly died just then. Xander arrives, and tells him he couldn't locate the demon, but Buffy tells him she had an extremely close encounter of her own, but the demon has disappeared.

At Casa de Summers, Dawn and Anya sit in the living room in a sort of awkward silence. Neither of them talk much. Dawn finally quietly thanks Anya for helping her and Buffy out, that she appreciates it. Anya explains that she doesn't have anything against Buffy.

~

Anya: "I'm not exactly fond of her choice for having a knock-down drag-out fight to the death with Willow in my former workplace, but I guess I can't blame her for doing her own job, right?"

~

Dawn insists that she's still grateful for everything Anya is doing. She admits that Anya is being pretty cool about the whole Xander situation. It's clear that Anya is still confused about their relationship, and she tells Dawn she doesn't want to talk about that, that it only brings up bad memories. Dawn apologizes, and tells her that someday things will get better for all of them. 

~

Dawn: "One of these days, it has to get better. Right?…Right?"

~

But Anya only stays silent.

Buffy and Xander find themselves at an outside clinic set up to help any burn victims, and a paramedic tends to Buffy's wounds. She and Xander discuss how things seem so much harder than they used to be. They reminisce about the old days, back when they were in high school, when things had almost seemed normal. They've gone through so much, and it's far from over. Buffy tells Xander that she's glad she has a dedicated friend like him to stand by her. Xander starts to reply, but a frantic Anya suddenly appears nearby, and rushes over to tell them that Buffy's house is being attacked. The Grifaldi demon has brought some of his demon friends over and plans to ransack Buffy's house. Mortified that Dawn is in danger, Buffy sprints back towards home, leaving Xander and Anya alone. Anya only so much as gives Xander a fleeting glance, her eyes speaking volumes, but before either of them say anything, Anya disappears.

Back at the Summers residence, Dawn screams as a fireball slams through the living room window, instantly igniting the entire room. The demons are pounding on the front door, and finally, the Grifaldi demon smashes through it. Dawn confronts it in the front hall, but the demon swats the girl away easily. Three other demons follow him into the house. The Grifaldi tells them to take whatever they want, and then get out – this place is going to become a pile of ashes.

A moment or two later, Buffy dashes across her front lawn, and into the house. The fire that started in the living room is now raging out of control, and spreading into other parts of the house. She frantically calls for Dawn, and finds her sprawled on the floor in the dining room, unconscious. Anya appears a moment later, and Buffy demands she get Dawn out of the house. Anya complies, and Buffy rushes up the stairs and finds the Grifaldi and his demon pals picking through all of the stuff in all the bedrooms. 

~

Buffy: "Didn't your mothers ever teach you that stealing is bad? Or was she too busy trying to figure out how to destroy the world?"

~

A fight breaks loose, and Buffy barely manages to dodge more fireballs fired at her from the Grifaldi as she tries to fend off the other demons. She successfully downs two of the four demons, and the other two flee through the windows of the upstairs bedrooms, shattering out the windows, leaving only Buffy and the Grifaldi standing face to face in the upstairs hall. They fight viciously, and the fires spread even more. Buffy begins to cough from smoke inhalation. With one desperate kick, she sends the Grifaldi flying backwards into her mom's old bedroom, and the demon is engulfed in his own flames, roaring in pain. With no escape route, Buffy's only way out is through her bedroom window, so she leaps over a small wall of fire, and tumbles out the window and to the ground.

As Dawn, Anya, and a recently arrived Xander go to Buffy's side to help her to her feet, they all watch as the Summers house is completely overtaken by fire. Sirens sound in the distance, as fire trucks barge in to try and save the day, but they know it's too late. Parts of the house are already collapsing in. The place has been thoroughly destroyed. Silently, Buffy looks on as her home continues to burn, and before she knows it, tears are in her eyes.

Over at Giles's place in England, the Watcher and Willow are packing their things in preparation to head back to Sunnydale soon. Willow is anxious to get back home and see her friends again. She tells Giles that she's gone through so much, and she wants them to be a part of her life again. She's ready for things to start getting back to normal.

~

Giles: "Normal? In Sunnydale? I didn't know such a thing existed there."

Willow: "Okay, normal for a town that sits over the mouth of Hell."

~

In the outskirts of Sunnydale, a motorcycle roars down a dark, desolate road. The bike comes to a slow stop just beside a large sign that reads "Now Entering Sunnydale". The rider takes off his helmet, revealing himself to be none other than Spike, the bleached-blond vampire, who has returned to Sunnydale…different. He manages to crack a smile, and mumbles to himself, "Home sweet home…", then snaps the helmet back on, before speeding down the road again further into town.

-End of Episode 7.1-

Be sure to check back soon for 7.2: Death and Taxes! Coming soon!


	4. 2: Death and Taxes

****

Episode 7.2 "Death and Taxes"

Written by: L.E. Lamkin

Under cover of darkness, a teenaged boy and girl slip through an empty window and into the nearly completed brand new Sunnydale High. The building has been rebuilt over the exact same place the old one was, missing only a few windows and some loose floors. They're both nervous, and worried they'll be caught. The boy assures the girl they'll be fine. "Welcome to the Hellmouth", anyone? 

After finding a place where they can go at it, the two teens start making out, oblivious to everything around them. Including a dark, ominous looking strand of black smoke that slowly begins to seep out of different areas of exposed ground where the floors haven't been laid down yet. The black tendrils continue to snake closer to the teens, and the girl suddenly pulls away, commenting that it's just gotten so much colder. The boy begins to assure her once again that everything is okay, but before he can finish, the evil-looking black smoke shoots into the boy's back, causing him to cry out in pain. Then, an instant later, he drops to the floor – dead. The girl can only scream. 

The next morning, Buffy and Dawn sit side-by-side in a boring, non-descript office, much like the one in the bank in last season's "Flooded". Dawn complains that the guy that was helping them has been gone for "like, ever". Buffy tells her that their insurance settlement will be worth the wait. Dawn says she'll miss the house, and Buffy agrees. But she's pretty surprised the place even lasted this long. Next second, the insurance office worker returns, holding a small slip of paper. He explains to the girls that because before their mother died, she had purchased very good house insurance, and because they are no longer with the dependant who bought the insurance and lost everything in the fire, their claim will be that much larger. He shows Buffy the slip, with the amount of her claim on it. Her eyes widen, and Dawn murmurs, "That's a lot of zeros." Needless to say, the sisters are shocked.

After leaving the office, Buffy and Dawn stop by the high school to visit Xander and share with him the good news. However, the mood is pretty grim on campus, and Xander explains to Buffy that a dead teenager was found inside the school this morning. No apparent marks, just…a cold, dead body.

~

Buffy: "The school hasn't even opened yet, and already it's a death magnet. Boy, this was a great idea. Let's rebuild the school! Carry on the tradition! Blah, blah, blah."

~

She has no idea how right she is. Xander tells the girls that they're on a tight schedule. He and his crew have been working very hard to get Sunnydale High back into shape again, but Xander thinks maybe they should take the day off. Inside the school, one of Xander's crew members, a guy around their age, is diligently working on setting a new window into its place. Like the night before, that same dark mist begins floating up from out of the ground, slowly coiling up and around the worker's body, until it tightens around his throat, strangling him to death. The window falls and shatters into a million little jagged pieces.

Immediately, Xander, Buffy and Dawn are on the scene, and they see the dead worker. Dawn is morbidly interested, and wants to take a closer look, but Buffy tells her stay away. She and Xander share a quick glance. They're both thinking the same thing: something fishy is going on.

Later that day, the trio are waiting in the airport lounge we saw in "Bargaining" last year. Buffy mentions that Giles called her a little earlier and that their plane should be landing fairly soon. Dawn seems a little apprehensive about Willow's return, but Buffy tells her that she's still the same person.

~

Buffy: "Willow went through a lot of hell. Pure and simple. And it's never easy for people to deal when things happen like that. Anybody remember my little escapade to L.A. a few years back?"

Xander: "Not to mention your serious lack in judgment of character."

Buffy: "What is that supposed to mean?"

Xander: "Nothing. It's just that most people wouldn't let themselves get down and dirty with an evil thing like…"

Buffy: "Don't say his name, Xander. Please."

~

Just like in the premiere, Anya appears at just the wrong time, and manages to overhear Xander's comment about Spike.

~

Anya: "Most people, huh? Does that include me?"

Xander: "Would you _stop _doing that? With the random appearances and whatnot? It's more than a little creepy."

~

Anya brushes Xander off, and explains that she also received a call from Giles, and came to greet him back into the homeland. She goes on to say that even though she's a demon now, she still did make several ties to the mortal world as her short stint as a human, and has a place for Giles because he was her former employer. She adds, "You know, before Buffy and Willow did their whole number on the shop." Buffy tries to defend herself, but at that moment, Giles and Willow are suddenly amongst them, excitedly announcing their presence. Warm hugs and greetings are exchanged by all, and after the initial excitement of everyone being once again reunited, a sort of awkward silence falls over them all.

~

Willow: "So…what's new with you guys?"

Buffy: "Well, actually, there's sort of a lot we should talk about. It's sort of hard to explain. A…a few big things happened recently, and…well, I'm not really sure what's going to happen now."

Dawn: "Some crazed demon burned down our house, and now we've got like, a ton of money we can spend on whatever we want."

Buffy: "Apparently it wasn't really that hard to explain."

~

It's obvious that everyone has a lot of catching up to do. Xander offers that they all go back to his place to go over everything. Giles tells them all that he's got quite a bit of news to share himself. As they all walk out of the airport, an unseen duo of men dressed in conservative suits look on, watching the group very, very closely. 

Clem is sitting in Spike's crypt, lounging in the old armchair, watching T.V., when suddenly the crypt's door flies open, and Spike rushes in. He looks strange, like we've never seen him before. His gaze is distant, and he can't seem to focus very well. It seems being back in Sunnydale is a bit hard on him. Clem tells Spike several times how surprised he is to see Spike back. He didn't expect him to ever return, especially after what happened between him and Buffy. Spike goes nearly mental at just the mention of the Slayer's name.

~

Spike: "She's in my blood, now. In my veins. She makes me want to live, and damn it, I'm not even bloody worth it! I can't even be the same way I was before. I did so much…so much carnage, so much blood. And I loved it. I loved it! And now all I feel is sick and queasy and like I could die…"

Clem: "Clearly you're dealing with some issues."

~

Spike continues to hint at his new development in almost insane ramblings. Clem finally quietly deduces that Spike is different now. He has a soul. Clem says he can sense it, that it must be "a demon thing". Just from hearing the "s" word, Spike goes absolutely mental again. Tears of what seem to be pain and anguish roll down his cheeks, and he continues to scream unintelligibly. He screams for Clem to just leave, to just leave and never come back. Clem tries to comfort the vampire, but Spike converts into his vampire face and tells him his chip doesn't hold him back from hurting demons. Clem gets the hint and ske-daddles, leaving Spike all alone. With an angry, desperate cry, he picks up the T.V., still quietly rumbling, and throws it into the far wall of the crypt, and it crashes into hundreds of pieces.

The vibe in Xander's apartment is sketchy at best. Everyone is gathered in the living room area, and it's clear that this is where everyone will be sleeping for at least a time, except of course for Anya, who looks extremely uncomfortable to be there. As Buffy brings Giles and Willow up to speed about the current events in Sunnydale, Anya fidgets and altogether looks as if she wants to leave, but somehow feels compelled to stay. As if she's familiar with it. Giles explains to everyone that as part of his return to Sunnydale, he is to watch over Willow's reintegration into life, and to take on a new position as one of the head curators at the Sunnydale Museum. 

~

Buffy: "The Council can just…take over places like that?"

Giles: "Their influence spreads quite far, and they have the ability to offer quite provocative incentives for working with them. The Council has also placed several of their officials at the museum as well, to help with things."

Buffy: "And to meddle where things should be meddle-free?"

~

Clearly, although the Watcher's Council and the Slayer have reunited in the fight against the forces of darkness, Buffy still isn't too hot-to-trot to be working very closely with the usually stuffy and narrow-minded Englishmen. However Giles insists that they will only be there to help him monitor Willow's progression, and to help make sure things don't spiral out of control in Sunnydale like they did several months before. A sort of precation of sorts. Still, it's obvious Buffy doesn't like the new set-up, but she doesn't say anything more.

Buffy and Willow have decided to take a walk. Both have a lot to talk about with eachother, and it seems there is so much that's been left unsaid. Willow left almost immediately for England after the near-apocalypse, and they'd barely spoken to each other since then, barring a couple of short telephone calls. As the two friends wander the streets of Sunnydale, they talk about their feelings.

~

Buffy: "So how've you been feeling? You okay?"

Willow: "I've been feeling…stable. Giles spent so much time with me, helping me learn how to cope. I…I don't think I would've made it without him. No, I know I wouldn't have. It was…it was so hard, Buffy. It took me most of the time just getting it through my head that I could even come back from what I did. It reminded me of…I felt like I had turned into…Faith or something."

Buffy: "No. This was different. Someone you love was taken from you. You did what you thought you should at the time. Maybe it was wrong, maybe it was right. But it's over now. And you're home. Where you belong."

~

Just like at the airport, we see several figures standing inconspicuously in different places on the same street as Buffy and Willow, watching them very closely. Someone is keeping tabs on the Slayer and her friends. But are they friends or foe? Or something completely different?

Meanwhile, the dark force that has already claimed two lives is spreading out farther and farther into town, able to leave the confines of the high school where it once originated from. It's growing stronger and stronger. The wisps of black smoke begin showing up everywhere in town. A young woman walking down the street is suddenly on the sidewalk, not moving. A delivery truck driver struggles with the wheel, and flies over a bridge. A group of young kids playing baseball watch as the pitcher looses his breath and seems to have an asthma attack. People are dying all over the place. And it doesn't seem to be stopping anytime soon.

The next morning, Buffy strides into the Sunnydale museum, holding a folded up newspaper in her hand. The place seems to be empty, and there isn't much set up. Clearly the place is in the midst of being renovated and changed around. The Slayer wanders into the back of the building, and finally finds Giles and Willow going over some paperwork in a back office/lab area. Buffy claims that the new place is pretty nice. Willow admits she thinks it's very cool. She's excited to get to work so exclusively with all kinds of ancient artifacts and books. Buffy deadpans that they've always been working with ancient artifacts and books. 

~

Willow: "Well, now, they're official ancient artifacts and books."

~

Buffy slams the newspaper down in front of Giles, saying that while the "official" business might be great, they have other work to do. The headline in the paper reads: "Mysteriously Large Amount of Deaths Stump Sunnydale Officials". She brings up the deaths of two others on the high school's campus from yesterday, and that she knows something is up.

~

Giles: "It could very well have been the work of nature doing what nature does. Sometimes there are natural causes of death that we cannot stop or avoid."

Buffy: "Giles a bunch normal, healthy people don't just drop dead because of natural causes on the same day. Something evil is out there. We've gotta...gotta find it, gotta stop it!"

Giles: "I appreciate that you've become so dedicated to the cause, but perhaps maybe you're help isn't needed here. The Slayer is only needed for…for supernatural crises."

Buffy: "Giles, how often do people die in this town when there isn't a supernatural crisis involved?"

Giles: "Well….well…Point taken."

~

Willow accesses some demon databases with her laptop, and soon comes up with a match on possible culprits. She thinks it's possible they might be dealing with an ancient force called "El Muerte", which translates into "death". It's a never-ending force that's been around forever. Buffy wonders why it's going way extracurricular with its normal activities. Giles suggests that perhaps the Hellmouth has been fueling its power, making it all the more likely to take more lives than it already has planned. The deaths began at the high school, which is where the Hellmouth is, but now its power seems to have spread all over town. Buffy thinks it's a logical explanation. Come sundown, she plans to hit the school, where it all started, and see if she can seek "El Muerte" out, and find a way to stop its crazed killing rampage.

~

Giles: "Buffy…you can't stop death. It's impossible."

Buffy: "I may not be able to stop it. But I can slow it down."

~

Giles thinks that with all the energy of the Hellmouth lending El Muerte power, it is likely to adapt a sort of physical form. Buffy remarks that that's all for the best. She's ready to kick some evil ass. Willow tells her to be careful. They already lost Buffy once, and she couldn't handle losing her again.

~

Buffy: "Don't worry. I might fall for the same trick twice, but I'm not going for it a third time anytime soon."

~

The sun has set, and Spike is wandering Sunnydale, very lost in his thoughts. As he walks down the street, he is accosted by blinding, painful images that scream through his mind as quick as lightning flashes. He sees him and Drusilla wracking havoc throughout Europe. The Slayers he killed during the Boxer Rebellion and in New York City. His attempted rape of Buffy in her bathroom. He shakes them off, and finds himself standing where Buffy's house used to be. He becomes clearly worried. Has something truly terrible happened to Buffy while he was away? Not much longer, he reaches the Magic Box. It too is destroyed and in ruins. Worry turns to fear. Spike takes off running. 

At the same time, Buffy is just reaching the high school's campus. She sneaks into the building, much like the kids did in the beginning of the episode. She silently walks the halls, totally alert, all of her Slayer senses set on high. It's clear that she's primed for battle. In the same hallway that the first kid died in, Buffy slowly comes to a stop, noticing something in the air. That same old black mist arrives, and coils up into the air before Buffy. Then, it takes form. Like the garish nightmare-inducing Grim Reaper, it has a flowing, ethereal black robe, with a hood hiding its face, except for two burning red eyes.

~

Buffy: "Nice look you got there. But the whole clad-in-darkness bit? It's pretty much tired."

~

The battle begins. Buffy tries her best to take El Muerte on, but she can't really do much to it. It's not solid enough for her to truly fight, but her Slayer strength is enough to keep it at bay. But she can only fight for so long. Outside the high school, Spike has finally found Buffy. He looks relieved to see her, and to see that she's still alive, but then he sees that she's fighting for her life, literally. Death has started to wrap around Buffy's legs, snaking up her entire body. It's going to strangle her!

Spike leaps through the window, and knocks Death off of the Slayer. Buffy falls back, trying to get her breath back. Spike squares off face-to-face with El Muerte. Buffy sees Spike and becomes paralyzed by shock. Spike demands that Death take him, not Buffy. It's him he wants, he's the stronger one. So crazed El Muerte is, and hungry for more death, it doesn't realize Spike is already dead. It shoots right into Spike's chest for the killing blow, and the vampire almost has a look of happiness on his face. 

He falls to the floor, spasming in pain. But then…nothing. El Muerte is gone. The fact that Spike was already dead and couldn't be killed by its power, El Muerte is presumably sent back to where it belongs, having being stopped. Spike slumps back to the ground, almost disappointed that he's still alive. Buffy can only look on in quiet surprise, unable to speak. 

~

Spike: "Guess it didn't sit too well with somebody already dead, eh? Can't imagine something like that sitting too well with anything, matter of fact. Just doesn't sit right, doesn't sit right at all…"

~

Before she gets a chance to collect herself, Spike picks himself up off the ground and dashes away into the darkness, leaving Buffy all alone.

A little bit later, after the battle with El Muerte, Buffy is all alone at the ruins of her old home. She stumbles along amidst the rubble, and comes across a badly charred wooden trunk. The one Xander and Anya presented to her as a birthday gift last year. She kneels before it, surprised it even survived the fire. She opens the trunk, and inside, barely affected by the horrible flames – is Spike's black leather duster, the one that was left at her house before he fled from Sunnydale.

With a confused, slightly pained look on her face, Buffy pulls the duster out of the trunk, and pulls it close against her chest, looking as if she has no idea what is going on anymore in her world.

** Check out Episode 7.3: Sunrise, coming soon! (The first episode written by Finn Mac Cool so far!) **


	5. 3: Sunrise

****

Episode 7.3 "Sunrise"

Written by: Finn Mac Cool

Xander's apartment has been converted into a makeshift camp out. Dawn and Willow occupy the two bedrooms. The living room has two empty sleeping bags and Giles dozing on the couch. Buffy and Xander are the only ones up. They're eating ice cream while looking through apartment ads for Buffy. They talk about how, with the insurance money, Buffy and Dawn can get a swank, pre-furnished apartment. The conversation shifts to Dawn going to the newly rebuilt Sunnydale High tomorrow.

~

Xander: You know, you'd think building a high school on top of a portal into Hell would violate some sort of health code.

~

Buffy thinks her younger sister will handle it fine.

In one of the bedrooms, Dawn is listening to rock music through her headphones while she sleeps. Suddenly, we're in her dreams. Dawn's wandering the halls of Sunnydale High. Everything is empty, quiet, and creepy. Down the hallway, Dawn spots a little girl, no more than six. Dawn waves sheepishly. The girl says Big Brother is getting mad. Then, the girl is ignited like a bonfire. Her screams echo through the empty school. Dawn opens her mouth to scream as well-

And then she rolls out of bed and hits the floor, hard.

The next day, Dawn and Buffy stand in front of Sunnydale High. Buffy is worrying compulsively about Dawn's school supplies. Dawn assures her she's fine. Before she can leave, though, Buffy motions for a hug. Dawn looks around to make sure no one's looking, and then quickly hugs her big sis. She then hurries towards the school doors.

Inside, the crowds are big enough to lose a truck in. We see Dawn search around hopelessly for her locker, and, by the time she reaches it, the bell for class rings and almost everybody is gone. Sighing, Dawn starts looking around for her first class while checking her schedule. She bumps right into another girl about her own age.

After apologizing, Dawn asks if she knows the way to Room 1-215. The girl says she's on her way there right now. Dawn thanks the girl and says that her name is Dawn. The girl introduces herself as Diane.

Back at Xander's apartment, Buffy saunters in. She says she got Dawn to school and asks Xander if he can take her apartment shopping today. Xander says he can't. He has to get the work, and then lend his car to Willow so she can go see Giles at the museum; it's part of her rehabilitation. At that moment, Willow walks out of the bedroom, her eyes squinted and her clothes put on sloppily.

There's an awkward silence between Will and her friends as Xander hurries her out the door. Buffy asks how she's supposed to get to all the apartments without a car. But, by the time she says it, Xander and Willow are out the door. Buffy looks around at the empty apartment and sighs, unable to think of anything to do.

At an all too familiar crypt, Spike is desperately trying to sleep. He's lying on an uncovered mattress with a bottle of booze firmly clenched in one hand. He looks pretty pathetic. He's interrupted, though, by Buffy as she walks pushes open the crypt door. Spike springs to his feet and glares at her intently. The Slayer is carrying a duffle bag with her that she sets on the floor.

Buffy makes an idle comment about Spike being back, but he only grunts. She gets down to business and says she hasn't told the others that he's back. If he promises to stay out of her way, they can pretend she never found out. Spike mumbles "Deal". Buffy can't think of anything else to say, so she picks up the duffle bag and throws it at him. Spike catches it and, cautiously, opens it. Inside is his leather coat, the one he left at Buffy's house.

~

Buffy: You're lucky. It's about the only thing that survived the fire.

Spike: This thing always survives. It always keeps coming back.

~

Buffy having nothing more to say leaves the crypt silently. Spike looks at his coat for a moment, and then angrily throws it onto the bed. Howling with frustration, he slams a fist into the floor, slightly cracking it. He just kneels there, quietly sobbing, after that, his coat forgotten.

Dawn is obviously bored out of her mind. Her English teacher is explaining exactly how much homework they'll have this year. Dawn's at the point of nodding off, when there is a sudden shriek from behind her. Everyone turns their eyes that way to see Diane waving her arm in the air as it begins to burn. There is more screaming and Diane is rushed to the nurse's office by several students, including Dawn.

At the Sunnydale Museum, Giles is telling a mover where to put certain crates of artifacts. It seems to be just them right now, no visitors. Then Willow walks in, not looking much more awake than she was at the apartment. Giles steps away from his job to say hello to Willow. They start to talk, primarily how Willow is holding up in her magic free life. Willow's comments are lackluster and monosyllabic. 

Their conversation is interrupted, however, by stern, middle-aged women in a business suit. She cuts off Giles and introduces herself to Willow as Hannah Mills, the Watcher in charge of her rehabilitation. Willow isn't able to muster a very enthusiastic greeting. Miss Mills seems to mentally note that, and says that Willow should report directly to her from now on. She then walks off. Willow remarks that Miss Mills seems nice. Giles says no, she doesn't. Willow agrees.

In a dark room, Willow and Giles are being monitored by security cameras. Two men in dark suits watch them closely. One takes careful notes of everything they say.

Back in the main part of the museum, Giles leads Willow to a back storeroom. It is filled with museum records, some artifacts, and quite a few arcane books. The Council is allowing them to use these books, provided Willow acts as a pseudo-librarian for them. He reassures her that none of them are magical.

Suddenly, the sound of a Mexican hat dance can be heard. Giles quickly pulls out his cell phone and flips it open. It turns out Dawn is calling from a school pay phone during the break between classes. Dawn explains about Diane catching on fire in class and is worried it might be another pyro-demon. Giles says that he'll look into it, but doubts it's the same type of demon. After saying goodbye to Dawn, Giles tells Willow they've got some research to do.

~

Willow (still groggy): Oh, research, yay. Let's hit them books.

~

Buffy is lying on Xander's couch. She seems to have been there for a while, and looks pretty bored. She hums "Going Through the Motions" to herself. In mid hum, Dawn comes through the door. Buffy leaps up and hugs Dawn strongly. She asks several "how's your day" questions in the space of a couple seconds, somewhat overwhelming Dawn. Buffy explains she's just been a little bored with hanging around the apartment all day.

~

Dawn: You know, Buffy, you really should get a job, or a boyfriend, or a flock of cats. This is just sad.

~

Dawn then tells Buffy about the weird fire and that Willow and Giles are working on it. Buffy's taken back a little that Dawn didn't tell her first, but says she'll run right over to the museum.

Back at the museum's storage room, Willow and Giles are browsing through the books on hand. The door to the main museum opens and Hannah Mills stands there. With a sneer on her face, she announces that their friends have arrived. Buffy and Xander walk in and Miss Mills leaves without looking back. Xander makes a crack about the new Watcher and then asks if this fire thing was important enough for him to be dragged away from work. Giles says they aren't sure how serious it is. It could be a semi-ordinary case of spontaneous combustion, a witch's spell, a pyromaniac demon, or a variety of other things.

Sighing, Xander and Buffy sink down into the research books, too. Suddenly, Willow asks how Dawn is. There is a brief silence, then Buffy says she's back at the apartment, kinda worn out from school.

And Dawn walks into the music-filled Bronze bursting with energy. She's changed into slightly more "party girl" clothes and is followed by Janice. The two are talking about their first day at the new school. Janis asks if she heard about the girl who caught on fire. Dawn proudly says she saw it happen to some girl named Diane. Then, she realizes Diane is sitting over at the bar-counter, one arm covered in bandages. The two girls walk over to her and make themselves known.

Dawn introduces Janice, and the three of them get to talking. When Janis asked what was up with the fire, Diane says it must have just been one of those freaky things. After a bit of boy checking and chatting, Diane says that she just has to go to the bathroom for a second. She walks off and turns towards the bathrooms - and then walks out of the Bronze.

In the back alley, Diane looks around cautiously. Suddenly, a hand is set on her shoulder! She spins around but sees it's only an overweight man in a business suit. He asks what she's doing out here at night. Diane replies that she was just getting a bit hungry. And then - she vamps out. Before the man can scream, the vampire Diane lunges at his throat and sinks in her fangs.

Back in the Bronze, Dawn and Janis are talking over at the counter and watching cute guys when Diane walks back in from the alley. They ask what took her so long. Diane just smiles and ignores the question.

When Dawn walks back into Xander's apartment, humming a song to herself, she finds Buffy watching the door intently. Buffy demands to know where she was. Dawn says she was at the Bronze, it was no big deal. Buffy says Dawn should have told her before she left.

~

Dawn: What about all that stuff you spouted a couple months ago about not protecting me from the world anymore?

Buffy: Well, I'm still your big sister. Besides that may have been all the Apocalypse talking.

~

Then Dawn mentions that Buffy should be glad because she ran into Diane. Buffy is stunned for a moment, then asks what happened. Dawn says Diane doesn't have a clue why she caught on fire, and nothing like this had happened to her before.

~

Buffy: Fine. That's good to know. Now let's go to bed before someone else 

catches on fire.

~

In the basement of a nondescript suburban home, a young boy who looks to be in his late teens is working furiously amongst various lab equipment. Bottles full of strange liquids litter the shelves; rodents running around in small testing cages twitter and squeal; and the sound of a door slamming breaks the otherwise silent room. The young man looks up in surprise, and sees Diane striding into the basement, cradling her arm. She reveals her burnt arm angrily.

~

Diane: "Shawn, look at what happened today. The potion started to wear off a little too early."

Shawn: "I …I checked it twice! Maybe it was too diluted…"

Diane: "Well, maybe you oughta raise the SPF level, 'cause honey my kind are bit more susceptible to the rays than yours."

~

Shawn slowly backs away, clearly afraid. Diane comforts him with a loving touch, and whispers to him that everything will be all right. As long as he keeps making the sunlight potion for her, they can have a normal life. Live out their dreams. But Shawn reminds her that he's still a human. He's going to grow old, and eventually die. But Diane will remain exactly the same. This infuriates her. She vamps out, and looks as if she might kill her boyfriend. But then she stops, realizes what she's doing, and the vampiric countenance fades away. She smiles seductively, and leans in for a kiss. With an uncertain look on his face, Shawn closes his eyes and kisses her back.

Back at Scooby Central/Xander's place, everyone is up and fixing their own breakfast while the newsman blathers on a bit. Most are eating sparsely, except for Dawn's eccentric combination of cereals. In the midst of kidding Dawn about her breakfast, Buffy is interrupted by Giles. He turns up the news and the Gang gets an update. Turns out there was a murder at the Bronze. Mr. Tribune, the club's owner, was killed by a mysterious "neck wound". 

~

Xander: A murder in Sunnydale. How very odd.

~

Giles suggests that Buffy might want to look into Mr. Tribune's death, and she says she'll do it right after she takes Dawn to school.

~

Dawn: No way you're ditching me like that. There's forty-five minutes before first bell. I can come and look at it with you.

Buffy: Dawn, I don't think a murder scene is the best place to visit before school starts.

Dawn: Half the classrooms in my school are murder scenes!

~

Dawn convinces Buffy to take her when she examines the Bronze, and Xander says he'll drive them both. Giles says that if anyone needs to find them, they'll be working at the museum, still researching Diane's immolation.

Back at Diane's home, Shawn is in the kitchenette area upstairs. He's in his boxers and T-shirt and is preparing some Lucky Charms. The news is on and is showing a picture of Mr. Tribune, the guy Diane killed last night. As Shawn stares at the screen, Diane walks up, out of the basement, still a little groggy. She sneaks up behind Shawn and nibbles on his ear, but her boyfriend doesn't seem turned on. Instead he asks Diane to look at the TV and if that's the man she killed last night. Shawn is worried the attention might get them caught.

Diane won't hear any of this and pushes past Shawn to get at the fridge, where she takes out a packet of chilled plasma and takes a taste. She reminds Shawn to get her potion for today ready, since she'll have to leave soon. Shawn, knowing when he's beat, skulks down into the basement while Diane has a blood pick-me-up in the kitchen.

In the basement, Shawn goes to his collection of test tubes with various colored chemicals. He takes a hypodermic syringe out of a drawer and begins to fill it with carefully measured amounts of the other chemicals. Just as he's about to pour in a greenish liquid, he stops. He looks back up the stairs and sees Diane sipping some blood, paying him no attention. With a look of strange conviction, he goes back to his chemicals and, taking a deep breath first, pours all of the green solution into the syringe.

Back up in the main part of the house, Shawn is hands Diane the chemical filled syringe. She thanks him quickly and injects it into her arm. Both lovers wince; Diane from slight pain, Shawn's reasons unknown. Diane walks over to the shaded window and tentatively lifts it. No harm occurs when the sunlight strikes her hand. She smiles and briefly says her goodbye to Shawn before walking at the door. The instant Diane is gone, Shawn collapses into a chair, breathing deeply.

At the Bronze, a window is pushed open from the outside and Buffy slips in with Xander and Dawn. The three Scoobies find the club deserted and barren. Xander asks what will happen to the Bronze. Buffy says it will probably be abandoned. Few people are looking to buy a building where the last owner was killed, especially in their town. 

Dawn asks what they're looking for. As Buffy examines the bar she says that whatever killed Mr. Tribune might have left evidence. Slash marks, demonic slime, or shed scales if they're lucky. But then Dawn remembers something from the previous night: Diane didn't go to the bathroom, she went out the back exit.

Dawn explains to Buffy and Xander about Diane from last night. Combined with catching on fire in class, they concede that she's looking pretty suspicious. Buffy says she'll check out Diane's house, see if there's anything supernatural afoot. Dawn asks if she can come, but Buffy says Xander's got to take her to school.

~

Dawn: I just wanna...y'know...help. With the evil fighting and stuff.

Buffy: Dawnie, you've helped out plenty so far. But if it makes you happy, you can check out Diane in person for me, see what she's all about. I can't exactly tromp around campus without looking like a weirdo reminiscing about my glory days at the old stomping grounds.

Xander: Stomping grounds?

Buffy: Well, there was an awful lot of stomping...

Dawn: Great. I'll do it. I'm a girl on a mission. C'mon Xander.

~

Xander leaves to take Dawn to Sunnydale High, while Buffy says she'll look for Diane in the school directory and see if she can find her address.

Shawn is pacing around the kitchen of his and Diane's house, a virtually untouched sandwich on the counter. He looks very worried and glances at the telephone constantly. He practically jumps out of his skin when the doorbell rings. Recovering what little cool he has, Shawn walks to the door and swings it open.

Buffy is standing there, looking all innocent. Buffy introduces herself and says she met Diane at the Bronze one night and asks if she's home. Shawn says Diane left for school. Buffy is persistent though. She asks if he lives here with Diane. When Shawn suspiciously says yes, Buffy says she'd really like to meet Diane's famous boyfriend. Before Shawn can protest, Buffy marches on in.

Buffy pokes around a little, looking for anything suspicious, and Shawn isn't sure what to do with her. However, when Buffy reaches for the fridge, Shawn closes it on her, saying she can't look in there. Buffy ignores him once again and opens it. It has several bags of blood in it. Shawn's busted. Buffy whips around and doesn't give Shawn a chance to explain. She presses her cross necklace against his skin to see if it burns. Shawn hurriedly explains that he's a human, but Diane isn't, and about how he's been fixing a potion regularly for Diane that stops sunlight from killing her, so that she can live a semi-normal existence.

~

Buffy: What'd she do? Offer you immortality? Decades of sexual pleasures? Trust me, it's all talk.

~

Buffy hauls Shawn out of the house and she leads him towards Sunnydale High, telling him that she's going to take him with her to go after Diane. She's with her sister, and there's no way she's going to leave Dawn in trouble. At the school, bells ring throughout the halls and students file out of their classes. As Diane leaves English, Dawn walks closely behind her, looking not the least bit subtle. After a moment, Diane whirls around, surprising Dawn. Diane asks what's up, and Dawn, after a moment of uncertainty, says she just wanted to know how Diane was doing with the burns. Diane says she's great; she heals quickly.

The two begin chatting about how boring their English teacher is as they walk down the hall. They reach Dawn's locker, and she opens her it to toss in some books. Dawn breaks off mid-sentence, however, when she looks at the little mirror in her locker. Diane doesn't show up on it. Dawn closes her locker a little too quickly. Before she can stammer out an explanation, Diane whispers that they need to talk in private and leads the nervous Dawn outside.

Buffy and Shawn are walking fast along Sunnydale's sidewalks. As they walk, Shawn keeps pleading for Buffy to just let him go. When he tries to make a break for it, she lands a punch in his gut. She pulls him along them until Sunnydale High comes in sight. Buffy says they are going to find his girlfriend and make sure she doesn't kill anyone again, and she doesn't trust Shawn to be alone.

Still being dragged by Diane, Dawn is pulled to the side of the school building, out of site of crowds. Diane presses her against the wall and demands to know what's up. Dawn says nothing, but Diane keeps asking again and again, louder and louder. Eventually Dawn just cracks and yells "You're a vampire!" Diane falls silent for a moment, then starts to explain to Dawn.

~

Diane: I'm not just some bloodsucking creature of the night, okay? I mean, I don't want a lot. Some friends, a good education, a home outside of an abandoned factory or a crypt. You know, a normal life. I didn't ask for this to happen to me! I didn't ask to have to hide from daylight, to be exiled from humanity. All I want is to wake up in the morning, go to class, chat with a few friends, and go home to my boyfriend. I don't want to lose that. (She looks at Dawn, her face resolved) I can't lose that.

~

Diane's hands fly towards Dawn's neck and begin to strangle the teenager. Diane's face becomes demonic again, growling like an animal. But, before she can finish the deed, Diane is knocked aside. Buffy appears, having kicked the vampire off Dawn.

~

Buffy: You know, I don't usually get to do this during the day. (She then punches Diane in the face) But I can improvise.

~

Before Buffy can strike another blow, Diane runs off around the side of the school. The Slayer follows in hot pursuit. Diane runs around the building and reaches the area of congregating students. Several people scream as the vamp-faced Diane runs into the crowds followed by Buffy. A fight ensues between the two. Even though Buffy's stronger, Diane weaves behind scared bystanders, forcing the "protect-the-innocent" Slayer to not do so well.

Standing just outside the fray is Shawn, looking scared to be there, but scared to leave, as well. The choice to run is taken away when Diane pushes a jock into Buffy and runs for Shawn. She grabs onto his arms, clearly scared, and asks him to help her fight Buffy. Shawn can only gape, because, right before his eyes, Diane's hair is starting to smoke. The vampire clutches at her hair as flames start to spread through it. She shakes Shawn and demands to know what's happening.

The flames begin to spread over them both. Shawn continues to scream, "I'm not a monster!" over and over, until his words are drowned out and become a hideous scream.

Buffy, Dawn, and a lot of Sunnydale High's student body watch as the fires of sun ignite the two lovers, consuming them. No one says a word. They just watch the flames.

Later that evening, the Bronze is as empty as it was when the Scoobies checked it out last. However, this time, Buffy and Xander enter through the door, strangely left unlocked. Buffy is filling Xander in on the last bits of their adventure. She's saying the whole "friend is a vampire" thing shook Dawn up a little. Xander nods sagely, then Buffy asks why he brought her here. Looking around the abandoned club, Xander starts to explain. He suggests they pool their money together and buy the Bronze for themselves. 

Buffy is in shock for a moment, and then leaps at Xander like a puma. She hugs him so tight that we hear a very painful cracking sound. Xander reminds her she's dealing with a mere mortal here, and she backs off from the super-strong hug. Still she's bursting with enthusiasm as the two friends plan their future.


	6. 4: Arrival

Episode 7.4:  Arrival

Written by:  Finn Mac Cool

            A fish-like demon is flung against the brick wall of an alley.  Buffy stands over it, sneering down.  Suddenly, the demon climbs to its feet and knocks Buffy back.  The fight is joined by Dawn and Xander, who each bash the demon with trashcans.  The aggravated demon knocks Xander aside and is about to attack Dawn when Buffy lands a kick in its stomach.  The Slayer lands a few more blows on the demon until it falls to the ground.  Quickly, Buffy snaps the demon's neck.  The three friends collectively sigh after the demon's death.  They all help lift the demon and toss it into a dumpster.

~

            Xander:  This makes four demons tonight.  Whatever happened to the simpleness of vampires?  Simple stake to the heart, a little holy water, and poof, just a pile of dust.

            Buffy:  Vampires get boring after a while.  I mean, you've seen one turn to ash, you've seen 'em all.

            Dawn:  Yeah, and with demons, we get all kinds of different corpses to bury and do curses on.

~

            As the demon fighters walk out of the alley, a woman watches them from the roof of a building.  Her clothes are just this side of trashy, but her face is totally serious.  Her eyes stay fixed on Buffy and she barely keeps from snarling.

            The Scooby Gang (with the exceptions of Spike and Anya) is gathered in the Xander's living room the next day.  Dawn and Buffy are each packing their suitcases.  The Gang is talking about Dawn and Buffy moving into an apartment now that their house is burned down.  Dawn's saying that they should have gotten a penthouse, but Buffy says, with her down payment on the Bronze with Xander, a small, furnished apartment is the best they can manage.  Xander is being very helpful, helping the Summers girls get together their stuff for moving.

~

            Buffy:  You must be eager for us to leave.

            Xander:  No.  I love you guys staying here.  But it will be a relief to sleep in my own bed and leave the toilet seat up without fear.

~

Talk turns to Willow and Giles, who aren't doing much.  Giles explains that he's got a new place lined up, nearby the museum.  Willow admits that she isn't so sure she's ready to move out.  Everyone tells her that's perfectly fine.  She needs to take her time doing everything.  She can't just leap into life all at once.  Xander confirms that she can stay with him as long as she needs to.

A demon bar is bustling with business.  The place is filthy, unsanitary, and crawling with demons and people who, judging from their red drinks, are probably vampires.  Sitting at the counter is Anya, drinking heavily and venting about being a vengeance demon to the bartender (turns out the only smiting she's granted was for a cheating husband's toe to fall off).  At a table, meanwhile, three vampires are having a slightly drunken conversation.  Each vamp is complaining about how horrible their unlives are.  As they're bitching, the woman who watched Buffy earlier walks into the bar, scanning the customers.  She turns her attention towards the three vampires and listens in on their conversation.  One vamp is saying that he's living in a sewer after his lair, an abandoned house, got bought by some human.  In the midst of his complaining, the woman takes a seat at their table.  The vampires try to get her to leave, but she calmly takes one of their glasses of blood and sips from it.  She says that they are pathetic; she remembers the days when vampires fed on the blood of the innocent and inspired terror wherever they went.  One of the vamps tries to shove the woman off her seat, but she socks him a good one in the gut.  When the vampire falls the ground, clutching his stomach, the other two turn towards the woman.  Every demon, including Anya, turns their attention to the new arrival.  The vampires ask her who she is.  She gives a tiny smile and says to call her Marguerite.

The next night, Buffy and Giles are walking down the Sunnydale sidewalks, eyes out for the usual sort of trouble.  Buffy asks how Giles has been, really.  He tells her that it's been quite stressful dealing with Willow.  Buffy admits that she doesn't think she would have been strong enough to handle Willow after everything that happened.  Giles smiles and tells her that she's strong enough to handle anything.  That's just the way she is.  Still, Buffy thinks it must have been hard.  Giles admits that it truly, truly was.

~

Giles: We both had a lot to go through.  Willow was dealing with so much grief, and I couldn't stop feeling sorry for myself.  I…I abandoned you all when clearly you needed my presence.  And…I must admit, I wasn't quite myself without any of you around.

Buffy: Bet life was a lot better though.  Less demony anyway. 

Giles: A life without you in it, Buffy, is not worth living.  You…you're like the daughter I never had.  I'm so proud of you.  As a Watcher, as an adult, and as a friend.

Buffy: C'mon, you're gonna make me cry.

~

            In the midst of this conversation, someone is watching them.  After Buffy and Giles pass a shadowed alley, a figure steps out.  It's Marguerite.  The three vamps from the bar follow her.  One asks what she's gonna do.  Marguerite barely hears him and starts catching up with the Slayer.  When she's only a foot behind Buffy, Marguerite gives her a tap on the shoulder.  Both Giles and Buffy turn around to stare at Marguerite.  Marguerite asks if she's Buffy Summers.  Buffy says yes, but is uncomfortable since Marguerite looks an awful lot like a prostitute.  Marguerite gives a small, strained smile, and then she vamps out.  Before Buffy can react, she is sent sprawling by one of the vampire's punches.  In a flash, Marguerite grabs Giles by the throat, cutting off his oxygen.

~

            Marguerite (almost spitting with rage):  Did they tell you about me, Slayer?  I want to know.  Do Slayers know my name?  Do they tell stories about the big, bad vampire who was just a little too strong?  Do they, bitch!

            Buffy (nervous):  Look.  Why don't you just let him go, and we can handle this in an orderly fashion.  I stake you; you turn to dust; I go home.  

            Marguerite:  Maybe I'll break your Watcher's neck!  Snap his spine in two!  What would you say to that, Slayer, huh?

~

            Marguerite looks about ready to kill the choking Giles, but instead throws him into the street.  An car is coming towards him too fast to stop.  Buffy, ignoring the vampire, dives for Giles, knocking him out of the way.  The car tries to brake, but collides with Buffy.  As Giles and the driver gather around her, she says she's fine, super-strength and all, but is a little woozy getting up.  By the time she's on her feet, Marguerite is gone.

            Back in the alley, Marguerite is walking away from the scene with her vamp followers.  One of them asks why she didn't try to kill the Slayer.  Marguerite says that killing one Slayer may be great, but there are bigger things, greater things.  She intends to show them it.

            At Xander's apartment, Dawn is listening to headphones in one of the bedrooms, while Willow is lying on the couch with her laptop on her lap.  She's clicking aimlessly through a game of solitaire.  Xander walks in and comments that she looks like a barrel of fun.  Willow just grunts.  Xander takes his kidding aside and sits near her.  He asks why she's been out of it since she came back.  Is it the magic draining, or is she still kinda in shock?  Willow turns her gaze to Xander and doesn't seem sure what to say.  Then she just blurts that she's not one of them anymore.  Xander, surprised, says that's ridiculous.  Willow doesn't think so.  After what she did and what she tried to do, it's like there's this bubble between her and her friends, and she doesn't know how to break through it.  Xander gives her small hug and says it's all right.  He doesn't deny that what she did changed things between all of them, but it can be repaired.  Just as Willow's eyes begin to moisten, the phone rings.  It's Giles, he wants them at the museum right away.

            Willow and Xander, followed by Dawn, enter the museum, marked for grand reopening soon.  Hannah Mills, the Chief Watcher, and another Watcher in a suit catch the three as they enter.  The man asks what they are doing here when the museum is closed.  When they say Giles called them, the man splashes Xander with a jar of water.

~

            Watcher:  Holy water.  Standard test for vampirism.

~

            At that moment Giles approaches those two from behind and leads the Scoobies to the back room after Hannah condescendingly explains to the man about the Slayer's "poor choices in comrades".

            As they walk towards the backroom, Giles fills Xander, Willow, and Dawn in on their new vampire friend.  He finishes the description as they enter the storage room/research room where Buffy is sitting.  Buffy adds that she was a real bad ass, too.  Giles mentions that their research isn't hopeful since they don't know the vampire's name or much about her beyond appearance.  As they sit down to the research books, Dawn says maybe they could try Anya for news, see if the demon world's talking about this vamp.

~

            Xander:  Don't talk about her!  Every time we do she teleports right behind me and-

~

            Xander doesn't get a chance to finish as Anya teleports in right behind him.  She makes a point of stepping around Xander and addresses Giles.  The tension in the air is thick.  Giles asks, somewhat awkwardly, what they can do for her.  Anya says she's got information that she might be willing to share.  Xander suggests it's a "Hundred and One Ways to Eviscerate Men".  When no one laughs, he becomes quiet, and Anya ignores him.  She explains that she overheard a certain vampire talking about how she was going to go after Buffy.

~

Buffy: Was she about ye tall, dark hair, slutty clothes?

Anya: You've met her? 

            Buffy: Well, officially.  Mostly it was just an introduction of her fist and my face.

~

            Anya says the vampire was called Marguerite and had picked up some minions in the Bronze.  Giles says this should narrow the research down immensely.  He says she can stay, if she wants.  There are a few gapes all around, but Anya says yes and no one has the heart to throw her out.

            A few hours later the Gang is practically falling asleep on the books.  However, Anya, who's found something, wakes them.  It's an old photograph that she founding buried under some books.  It's a picture of Marguerite, wearing the 1800's version of cleavagey clothes.  Then, Giles points to a figure in the background.

~

            Giles:  Isn't that-

            Anya:  Spike.

~

            For a second Buffy looks both scared and worried.  She covers it up, but not before Dawn sees it and gets a puzzled look on her face.  No one has any idea why Spike is in that picture.  Suddenly, Buffy says that she'll be going.  She says she's gonna see if she can beat some info on Marguerite out of some demons.  After Buffy leaves the storage room, Dawn says she just remembered she has some homework she's got to get to and slips out as well.  Under Giles's advice, Willow and Anya follow Dawn to see what's up.

            At Spike's crypt, the vamp is just sitting in a chair, not moving.  His leather coat lies on the floor.  Buffy interrupts him by crashing through the door.  Spike jumps to his feet and asks if she remembers their deal.  Buffy replies that she hasn't told anyone about him, and won't if he doesn't bother her, but she needs information.  Spike, trying to act like the Big Bad, says it will cost her a pretty penny.  Buffy tells him to cram it, and he shuts up and asks what she wants.  Buffy says a new vamp is after her, a powerful one, by the name of Marguerite.  Spike reacts in shock and Buffy, pleased at his response, demands to know everything he does about her.  He gathers his resolve and starts to explain.

~

            Spike:  I knew her, a long time ago.  She was . . . my role model.  My ideal.

~

            Spike tells Buffy that he and Drusilla were in Brazil about 90 years ago.  Rumor had it the Slayer was around, and they were trying to weed her out.  But they weren't alone.  By the time they had tracked the Slayer to a large, Brazilian town, Marguerite had arrived.  Spike and Dru watched as she beat the Slayer to a pulp before draining her blood.  The three vamps had talked afterwards and wreaked some havoc in town before going separate ways.  All through this explanation, Spike's voice and face are filled with both shame and nostalgia.  When Spike finishes his story, Buffy says great and walks out of the crypt, but Spike follows.  In the cemetery, he urges her not to fight Marguerite; she's killed more Slayers than just that one, more than Spike ever thought possible.  However, Spike only gets a hard slap in the nose and Buffy walks off.

            Having followed Buffy to see what she was keeping secret, Dawn overlooks this exchange between Slayer and vampire, wearing a look of shock on her face.  Suddenly, Willow and Anya are behind her!  Dawn proclaims that she was the one following Buffy, not them.  The two older women say that they were just looking out for Dawn.  They then see Buffy stalking away from a confused looking Spike, and the same look of shock overcomes their features.

            The vampire takes a whiff of the air and catches a scent.  Before they can run, Spike catches the girls crouching beside his crypt.  Starting to panic, he asks what they're doing here.  They throw the question back to him.  The girls' attitude is cold, especially Dawn's.  When it looks like they're gonna question him, Spike, changing to vamp face, yells at them to bugger off.  He rushes back into his crypt before anyone can comment.

            Anya, Dawn, and Willow slowly walk away from the crypt, trying to decide what to do.  Anya thinks they should call Giles and catch up with Buffy, but the other two are against it.  They have no idea why Spike's back or how long Buffy's known, or what they've been doing together.  Until they do, it may not be best to bring up such a touchy subject.

            Xander is looking hopelessly bored over some books.  He asks Giles how he stands working with these things from nine to five.  He explains that it beats what appears on most American television.  They're interrupted by Buffy, who asks where Dawn, Willow, and Anya are.  Xander explains their excuse.  Buffy hears this and then says she talked to one of Spike's old friends, and he knew Marguerite in Brazil, near turn of the century.  She mentions the killed a Slayer thing.  Giles and Xander's first reaction is worry and concern, but Buffy assures them she can handle Marguerite, no worries.  Giles does admit this will help with the research, but suggests they call it a night.  If they work too late, they won't be awake enough to do much good.  They agree to meet tomorrow evening to find out about their new Big Bad, and everyone goes their separate ways for the night.

            The next day, Dawn is walking out of school followed by some of her friends.  They're talking, but Dawn notices Buffy waiting in the parking lot, and Dawn breaks off and heads towards her sister.  Dawn asks what's up and Buffy says that the new apartment's ready and she thought they should get the moving in done soon as possible.  The two head off.

            The apartment is definitely nice.  Buffy and Dawn are shown in by a bored looking apartment manager.  It's fully furnished, two bedrooms, and has a spacious living room.  The Summers say they love it.  The super asks if they need any help unpacking, but two small suitcases carrying their possessions that survived the fire are all they have.

            At the museum, several elderly couples are milling around, looking at the exhibits.  Willow is currently managing an information booth.  A man asks her where he can find the South American pottery, and Willow points him in the right direction.  Suddenly, Giles comes up to the booth, carrying a couple old books under his arm.  Willow asks what's up and Giles plops the books down on the counter for the booth.  He explains as he flips through one of them for a picture of Marguerite.

~

            Giles:  Well, the information Buffy gathered from the local demons was accurate.

            Willow (kinda nervous):  Oh, yeah, those bar-crawling demons, always good for a tip.

            Giles (oblivious):  I looked into the Watcher Diary of Anthony Grim.  His Slayer was killed by Marguerite in Brazil, about 85 years ago.  He managed to gather a good profile of her though.

~

            Willow goes a little pale when she sees the profile:  Marguerite has been around for over four hundred years.  During that time she has fought and killed twelve Slayers.  The two ponder what to do with this information.  Giles suggests that they get it to Buffy as soon as possible.  They're interrupted, however, by Hannah Mills.  She asks to see what they're gawking at, but Willow and Giles quickly cover up the books, not trusting her.  Mills does not look offended, but says that both of them are employed at this museum, and she is not going to let them go running off until their shifts are over.  A slight smirk on her face, she leaves a pissed of Willow and Giles behind.

            In her new bedroom, Dawn has what little she owns spread out on the bed.  She's sorting through it when Anya teleports behind her.  After a startled Dawn recovers her composure, she asks Anya what she's doing here.  Anya wants to know if she's told Buffy that they know Spike's back, yet.  Dawn says no and stops Anya from trying to tell Buffy.  Dawn says that maybe they should wait a bit, see if Buffy will come forward on her own accord.  Anya has the attitude of "screw that", but Dawn holds her in check.

            Slowly, the sun sets on Sunnydale, and Marguerite takes to the street with her minions.  Marguerite asks one of the three vampires following her if he's found the Slayer's new address.  He hands her a slip of paper with the address.  Smiling, the vampires head to a brick apartment building.

            Inside, they find the apartment manager sitting behind his desk, flipping through a magazine.  Marguerite introduces herself to the super and shakes his hand – and then starts to break the bones in it.  Marguerite, now vamped out, politely asks where Buffy Summers is.

            In the apartment Buffy is in the living room, and is calling to Dawn, asking her if she wants pizza tonight, when Anya enters the room, followed by Dawn.  Buffy asks what Anya is doing here, but Dawn interrupts Anya, delaying her trying to tell Buffy they know about Spike.  Suddenly, the door goes flying open, and Marguerite stands there backed up by her vamp lackeys.

~

Buffy: How the *hell* did you get in here?  There's no way I'd invite someone dressed like you into my house.

~

            Marguerite smirks and says the manager gave her the invite, once she persuaded him.  She slowly walks towards the three women.  She dares Buffy to hit her.  Buffy smiles as she flings a punch at Marguerite – and the vamp blocks it and sends Buffy flying across the room.  The vamp minions rush in and attack Dawn and Anya.

            Giles and Willow are walking down the Sunnydale streets.  Their talking about how bossy Hannah Mills is and wondering what Buffy is going to do with Marguerite.  They enter Buffy's apartment building.  Giles asks what room number Buffy said she had.  Willow can't remember and say they look for whoever is in charge here.  It's then that she looks behind the apartment manager's desk and finds the apartment manager dead of vampire bites.  A crashing sound comes from upstairs and Giles and Willow hurry up there.

            Apartment tenants gape as Marguerite's minions push Anya and Dawn into the hallway.  While not simply succumbing, the three vamps are proving a bit too much.

            In the apartment Marguerite and Buffy are trading blows.  While they're flung around the room, neither really seems to be hurt by the other.

            Giles and Willow arrive in the hallway.  From his coat, Giles takes out a cross and stake and tosses the cross to Willow.  They join the fray with the vampires.  Giles proceeds to wail on one of them while Willow burns another in the face.

            Buffy knocks Marguerite into a wall, causing it to crack.  Marguerite just snarls and kicks the Slayer in the stomach, hard.  Before Buffy can recover, Marguerite lands a punch that sends her flying across the room.  Marguerite pounces on top of Buffy and starts to strangle her.

            Giles beats his vampire with the stake before plunging it into the heart.  The remaining two vamps rush the girls.  The vamp attacking Anya falls on his face when she teleports a few feet away.  The other one knocks Willow aside and prepares to lunge at Dawn, but she lands a quick in his groin.  Quickly, Dawn grabs Willow's fallen cross and stakes him with it.

            Buffy is helpless, her neck gripped in Marguerite's strong hands.  As she chokes the Slayer's breath she says:

~

            Marguerite:  You think you know what a Slayer really is.  You've got a lot to learn, bitch.

~

Then, with a loud shriek, she flings Buffy against the wall.  She storms into the hallway and pushes the Scoobies aside with ease.  She and the one minion left saunter right out of the building.  Buffy rushes out, slightly bruised but all right, but sees her enemy is gone.  She assures her friends she is fine, but, when they try to explain what happened to the other tenants, they all run back to their apartments mumbling "didn't see nothing."

            Outside the building, the minion asks why Marguerite didn't kill Buffy, Marguerite, slightly bitter, says there are more important things, and they're going to gather quite an army to do them.

            On what appears to be the same night, Buffy, Anya, Willow, and Dawn are tidying up the apartment.  Buffy remarks how it was quite the battle.  They all agree, and Anya asks why she didn't bring Spike along (obviously trying to be subtle).  Buffy looks shocked and the other three grudgingly explain about catching Buffy at Spike's crypt.  In the middle of this revelation the doorbell rings.  They try to ignore it.  Buffy says that she only found out a tiny bit ago, that nothing was going on.  She turns her head from her friends, ashamed, as she turns to answer the door.  Dawn raises her voice and asks why Buffy couldn't tell them that Spike was back.  And, as Buffy opens the door, Xander is there.  From his face it is clear that he heard what Dawn said.

            THE END


	7. 5: Hollowed Hearts

Episode 7.5 "Hollowed Hearts"

Written by: L.E. Lamkin

            Buffy is silent as Xander glares at her, his anger nearly palpable.  Everyone is completely still.  Xander walks away from them, and slumps into the couch in the living room of Buffy's apartment, which is in the same condition it was when Marguerite and her vampire minions attacked.  It is obviously a little bit later on the same night.  Buffy tries to explain that she didn't want to keep secrets from him, not from any of them.  But she wasn't sure how they'd react.  

~~

      Xander: "Oh, right, you didn't know how we'd react.  What, we're supposed to be happy that you've been harboring a murderer?  A rapist?"

      Buffy: "That's not fair, and you know it."

      Xander: "Neither is lying to your friends."

~~  

            Buffy is at a loss.  No one can say anything; Willow looks at her feet, silent; Dawn and Anya share a look of discomfort.  Xander then comments that he can't take any of this, that he needs to get out of there.  He leaves, and the tense silence continues.  Anya quickly teleports out of the apartment after saying goodbye, and after a moment, Buffy tells Willow she can go ahead and leave too.  Willow offers to stay if Buffy wants her to, but Buffy tells her to get some rest.  They all need it.

            On the other side of Sunnydale, a young woman hurries down a darkened street.  She looks as if she is being followed, and she knows it.  She tries to get away, but whatever is stalking her seems to be too fast.  Then, before she knows it, a horrid amphibian-like demon with shiny light purple, almost gray, skin, leaps before her.  It's brandishing a glowing scepter with a bright green stone at its tip.  With a snarl, the demon shoves the scepter at the young woman, and a bright light engulfs her.  A moment later, the light disappears, leaving the woman looking empty and emotionless.

            The next morning, Anya walks into the museum, looking as if she's dressed for success.  She finds Willow and Giles working on several artifacts in the back lab area, and greets them brightly.  Willow and Giles, on the other hand, do not look so cheery.  Anya talks about how fun last night was, that Giles should have stuck around.  Things got a lot more interesting once the vampires were gone.  She casually talks about everyone arguing over Spike's return to Sunnydale.  Willow's eyes widen in shock, and Giles gets uncomfortable.

~~        

            Giles: "Spike…Spike is back in town?  Why…why wasn't I informed of this?"

      Anya: "Oh, Buffy didn't tell any of us.  I'm sure it isn't a case of you being left out of everything like it sometimes is."

            Giles: "Uh, yes, I suppose, but…"

      Anya: "I was wondering, since I've been so helpful lately, if you might consider becoming my boss again.  Letting me work for you here at the museum."

~~

            Willow doesn't look as if she thinks it's a good idea letting Anya work with them, and Giles is simply too thrown to really fathom what Anya is requesting.  Anya promises to work hard and earn him lots of money.  Giles absently agrees to consider the matter.  Much to Willow's chagrin, Anya happily announces she'll be in the next morning to hear Giles' final decision, and then hurries away, leaving Willow and Giles in a thick, awkward silence.

            In a darkened room filled with televisions receiving surveillance footage, several Council operatives, including Hannah Mills, are watching over the conversation between Giles, Willow and Anya.  One of the Watchers comments that Giles is quite unorthodox in his ways, what with hiring an active demon.  Hannah declares that she will have a talk with Giles about that, but their main problem is not the demon, it's Spike.  She fears he might have a negative affect on the Slayer.  One of the operatives asks Hannah what they should do about it.  Hannah replies that they will take any necessary action should the need arise.

            Outside Sunnydale High, Xander and a few of his workers are finishing up some work on the exterior walls of the school.  He's surprised when Dawn approaches him and says hello.  He wonders what she's doing outside, when she should be in a class pretending to learn, but Dawn assures him that it's her lunch break.  She asks Xander how he's doing with the news of Spike.  

~~

      Xander: "I just can't believe Buffy did it again.  She kept it secret when Angel came back from that Hell dimension or whatever, she didn't even tell us she was in heaven when she was…well, you know…and now this.  I just don't understand."

~~  

            Dawn admits that she isn't very happy about the turn of events either.  She quietly tells Xander that she'd gotten to a point where she almost wished Spike would never come back.  She mentions the attempted rape, and this gets Xander going.  Dawn tells him that she knows Buffy will make the right decision, and that Buffy won't let Spike have an affect on her anymore, that things are different now.  Xander isn't sure, but before they can talk more, a bell rings, and Dawn has to go.  At the same time, Xander notices a couple of his other workers picking up some tools with blank looks on their faces.  He calls to them, saying that the day's over, they can go.  But they don't listen.  Confused, Xander follows them about a mile away from the school's campus until they climb down into a dark underground cavern.

            Inside the cavern, there are several people mindlessly working on digging and excavating what looks like a large tunnel.  And in the middle of it all is the same demon from before, still clutching its glowing scepter.  Before Xander can say a word, he's zapped by the scepter, and a bright blue ball of energy flies from out of his chest.  Within a moment, Xander's eyes flash orange and then his expression goes blank.

            At the Bronze, Buffy is directing different people on where to put different equipment and furniture, getting everything redesigned for the reopening that night.  She doesn't seem to be completely into it, but for the fact that this is all last minute details, so she is quite harried and rushing.  After directing a large set of lights towards the stage area, Buffy is joined by Dawn, who's just got out of school.  She mentions running into Xander, and Buffy asks how he's doing, if he's still mad at her.  Dawn says he isn't exactly mad, but disappointed.  She also mentions she wouldn't be surprised if a certain vampire ends up dead.  Buffy tells her that Spike won't get killed, but Dawn doesn't look entirely convinced.

            As night begins to fall, Spike is slowly and deliberately packing his small amount of belongings into an old and battered suitcase.  He's muttering to himself about how nothing's going to work out for him in this town, soul or not.  It doesn't matter what he does, everything manages to come back and bite him in the ass.  He wishes things could've worked out, but it doesn't really matter anymore.  Just then, there's a knock at the crypt's door.  Willow walks in, looking slightly concerned.  Spike demands what she's doing, walking into an evil vampire's crypt all alone.  Willow tells him that she just came by to give him a fair warning, that Xander knows about him being back.  Spike comments that he's been expecting a sharp wooden object to the chest from him anytime now.  Willow asks if he's leaving town, and Spike says it doesn't matter where he goes, it's all the same anyway.  He might as well get out before Xander stakes him good, anyway.

~~        

            Willow: "He has every right to stake you."

            Spike: "Come again, Red?  So you're on Nancy Boy's side now, eh?"

            Willow: "You tried to rape Buffy.  You've done horrible, evil things.  But you've            also done some good.  Hence the warning."

            Spike: "As if you can be high an' mighty.  So you want to air out dirty laundry,   huh?  Think I don't know about what you did?  Demons are still talkin' about it,            how you tried to take out the world.  So if you want to see evil, I suggest you look         in the mirror, pet."

~~        

            Horrified by the onslaught of memories and completely obliterated by Spike's harsh words, Willow rushes out of the crypt in tears.  She finds herself walking alone nearby the Bronze, alone, awash in dark memories of last year.  Suddenly, she sees Xander and a few other people tugging some struggling people towards a car.  She walks towards them, confused.  Buffy walks out of the Bronze with an "OPEN!" sign, and sees what's going on.  Before they can do anything or ask questions, two of the other people latch onto Willow, and drag them along with them.  Willow calls out for help, but one of the people distracts her.  Buffy fights the guy off, but Xander, Willow and the others disappear in the car.  Buffy looks down at the unconscious guy, resolved.

            A short time later, Buffy drags the unconscious guy into the museum.  She calls out for Giles and lets the guy slump to the ground.  Giles appears from the back of the museum, looking worried about all the noise.  He asks Buffy what's going on.

~~

            Buffy: "Well, Xander kidnapped Willow, and this guy tried to help."

            Giles: "Xa-Xander...?"

Buffy: "Yeah.  We need to figure out why, and stat.  Can you tell me what's up with this guy?  They have to be under some kind of...spell, or something.  Can you pinpoint what it is?"

~~

            At that moment, Hannah Mills approaches them, clearly interrupting, and announces that she will run some simple preliminary magick tests to see what is afflicting the man.  Buffy asks if they'll hurry, her friends are probably in danger, along with a lot of other people in Sunnydale.  Hannah wordlessly takes the unconscious guy away with the help of a couple other Watchers, leaving Buffy and Giles alone.  Giles seems awkward around Buffy, and she asks what's up.

~~

            Giles: "I...well, I don't quite know how to bring this up.  But I feel somewhat out            of the loop on certain...issues.  Why didn't you tell me Spike was back in             Sunnydale?"

            Buffy: "I...well, I woulda told you eventually..."

            Giles: "I just don't understand why you would keep secrets from me.  I am your            Watcher.  And more importantly, I am your friend."

            Buffy: "I...I know.  I know.  It's just, I didn't want to alarm anyone.  You don't             have to worry about me slipping back into Spike-mode, though.  I'm over that."

            Giles: "I should hope so.  I heard it did nothing but hurt you."

~~

            Buffy becomes quiet, and a distant look overtakes her face.  Luckily, the strange moment is interrupted by Hannah Mills coming back from the back of the museum with her results.  The female Watcher tells them that there isn't exactly a spell on the man, but something magickal is affecting him, and probably all the other people, including Xander, and now possibly Willow.  Buffy impatiently demands her to cut to the chase and tell them what's going on.  Hannah then says pretentiously that the problem is that the man has no soul within him.

            In the dark excavation cave, Willow is thrust down onto the ground nearby a partially uncovered skeleton that looks to be of demonic origin.  In tears, Willow demands of Xander what's going on, why is he acting like this?  She deduces that there must be magick involved.  The demon appears, scepter in hand, and Willow yells at it, asking if it put a spell on everybody.  The demon tells her in a deep, guttural voice that it is not a spell, but it is magick.  It explains that their souls will give its master life once more.  Willow exclaims that it won't succeed, the Slayer will stop him.  The demon retorts that it does not care about the Slayer, and then uses its scepter to take Willow's soul.  She screams as her life essence is ripped out of her, and sucked into the scepter.

            In a dark street, Spike is walking along with his old suitcase.  After a little more walking, he ends up in front of Buffy's new apartment building.  He looks up at a particular window, and we see Dawn walk by, so it's obvious he knows where the Slayer lives now.  Dawn notices Spike out on the sidewalk, and before Spike can get away, the young brunette is out on the street with him.

~~

            Dawn: "So, taking up the stalking thing again?"

Spike: "Actually, I was just heading out of town.  Away from all you crazy people who seem to take a liking to making your lives miserable all the time."

Dawn: "And you've never been the cause of any of that misery, have you?  Don't you know what you've done?  What you did to Buffy?  I mean, God, Spike, you tried to rape her!  I'd almost kill you myself for that if it weren't for the fact that you've saved my life a couple of times."

Spike: "I bloody well know what I did!  And I feel guilty for it, all right?  I want to crawl into a dark corner and stab myself a thousand times in the eyes for trying what I did!  It drives me crazy, all right?  Is that what you want to hear?"

~~

            Dawn is clearly afraid now, seeing that Spike is clearly not all there anymore.  She starts to back away, but suddenly, a large group of people march towards them.  They look mindless, like drone soldiers.  Dawn cries out in surprise when she sees that Willow and Xander are among them.  Spike looks confused and within moments, they all surround them.  Spike manages to fight them off, but they latch onto Dawn.  A moment later, a huge truck screeches to a halt beside them.  Dawn is hefted into it, kicking and screaming, and then the truck speeds away, leaving Spike alone.  He mumbles to himself that it just never ends in this town, and then takes off in the direction the truck left.

            Back at the museum, Giles and the other Watchers have turned up some research.  They did a search for anything supernatural that required souls, and came up with a couple of different options.  None of them sound very likely except for one.  Giles informs Buffy that long ago, when only demons were still on Earth, there was a very powerful demon known as Gor, the soul eater, followed by the Gatha demon race.  He suspects that a Gatha demon is planning on using the souls of Sunnydale residents to ressurect Gor.

            Giles tells Buffy that if this is the problem they are facing, then it's likely that Gor will be buried in a certain place, and that is where the Gatha demon and the soulless people will be gathered.  Buffy decides she will use their capture to take her to the Gor's burial place, and Giles agrees.  Before she goes, Buffy decides to check in on Dawn.  She calls the apartment, but no one answers.  She tells Giles no one was there, and begins worrying that Dawn might be in trouble.

            Which, of course, she is.  In the excavation cave, Dawn is placed before the Gatha demon, held tightly on both sides by none other than Willow and Xander, now without souls.  The Gatha demon proclaims that Dawn's young, innocent soul will please Gor very much.  Dawn tries to get away, but the Gatha uses its scepter, and in a flash, Dawn's soul is taken away from her, fueled into the now extremely brightly glowing stone on the scepter's tip.  

            Just then, Spike leaps down into the cavern and tries to knock Dawn out of the way, but it's too late, she has already been de-souled.  The vampire attempts to tackle the Gatha demon, but a large group of soulless humans hurtle him backward, away from the demon.  The Gatha demon remarks that Spike is different.  He has two souls within him, demon and human.  The Gatha thinks this is interesting, but says no more.  Then, using the scepter, the demon extracts both a blue and red glowing ball of light from Spike's chest – the demon and human souls.  A flash passes over Spike's eyes, and he becomes an empty drone like all the others.  The Gatha orders them to all go back to digging up Gor's skeleton, which is now nearly uncovered.

            Not too much later, Buffy arrives at the exterior of the excavation cave, led by the mindless worker drone.  She tells them to wait, that she's going to take care of all of this, but it's obvious that the guy can't understand her.  Taking a deep breath, Buffy leaps down into the cavern, ready for anything.  What she sees is about three dozen people or more working dutifully on uncovering a gigantic demon skeleton that looks like it was extremely big and ugly when it was alive.  Amongst them are: Xander, Willow, Dawn….and Spike!  Confusion registers on Buffy's face upon seeing the vampire, but she is brought back to attention by the Gatha demon slamming her across the face with its scepter!  The demon tells her that it can sense she is different – she must be the Slayer.  Groggily, Buffy agrees.

~~

            Buffy: "That's right.  I'm the Slayer.  The very nearly unconscious Slayer."

~~

            The Gatha demon leaps onto Buffy, tackling her to the ground.  Buffy exclaims that this is new: she's usually the one doing the jumping and tackling.  She quickly regains her strength, and flips the demon off of her.  They pace around each other, both ready for a fight.  Buffy lets loose a high kick, flinging the glowing scepter across the cavern, where it lands with a dull thud in some dirt.

~~

            Buffy: "Lost your glowy stick thingie.  Whaddya gonna do to me now?"

            Gatha demon: "I will kill you for that!"  
            Buffy: "Bet you say that to all the girls."

~~

            The fight resumes, and for a moment, it seems like Buffy might lose.  But she manages to grab the demon by the shoulders and flings it over her own shoulders, sending the demon flying into a nearby wall of rock.  The sound of breaking bones resonates throughout the cavern as the demon slides to the ground, its neck broken.  It's dead, Buffy has finally defeated it.  She yells out triumphantly, "I win!", expecting everything to go back to normal.  But…nothing happens.  Confused, Buffy wonders why everyone hasn't stopped digging.  Then, she sees it – the glowing scepter!  She rushes over to it, picks it up, then swings it like a baseball bat, smashing the shiny stone on the tip, sending a large electric jolt through the air.  Buffy is thrown back by the enormous blast of energy, but soon begins to recover.  

            She watches as little glowing blue orbs float back into everyone's bodies, as their souls return to them.  Her eyes turn to Spike, just in time to see two orbs – one blue, one red – slip back inside his body.  The look of confusion on her face turns to realization.  Spike has…a soul!  Before she can say anything, or before any of the slowly awakening people can see him, Spike shakes off the grogginess and bolts out of the cavern, and out of sight.  Buffy can only look after him in total shock.

            That night, the Bronze is filled to the max with people.  The music is blaring, people are dancing everywhere, and the place looks great.  Willow and Buffy walk past Dawn and Xander, who are helping some other workers do some last minute set ups.  The two girls sit down at a nearby table.  Willow mentions that now that the whole ordeal with the Gatha demon is over, Xander and his crew are going to cover up the excavation cavern so no one can find Gor's skeleton.  Upon breaching this subject, Buffy questions Willow about how she's doing after everything.

~~

            Buffy: "So, 'ya okay?  I can't imagine what all that was like…"

Willow: "It was…horrible.  I felt so empty.  Like I just wasn't there anymore.  It was a lot like when I…well, you know, when the magick had taken over.  It was like I had been sent somewhere, and something else had taken over…Buffy, I never want to feel like that ever again."

            Buffy: "I'm sorry you had to go through that.  But it's over now."

~~

            Willow nods and manages to smile.  She congratulates Buffy on being the new owner of the Bronze.  She could never have imagined this is what Buffy would end up doing, but she thinks its perfect for her.  Buffy agrees, but admits that it hasn't all really sunken in yet.  She still has some adjusting to do.  Speaking of adjusting, she decides she needs to patch things up with Xander.  She excuses herself from the table and goes over to the Xan-man.  She tells him that she's really sorry for what happened.  Xander tells her it wasn't that big of a deal, having his soul taken away from him wasn't nearly as bad as leaving his bride-to-be at the altar or any of the other horrible things that have happened to him.  Buffy clarifies that she's talking about Spike, and Xander tells her he knows, that he was just using humor to cover up his real emotions.

~~

Xander: "I just don't want anymore lies between us.  What Spike did to you…it's unforgivable.  I'm not above just killing the soulless bastard."

~~        

            Buffy flinches at the mention of Spike being referred to as "soulless".  She explains to Xander that things are more complicated than that.  He can't just go kill Spike, it would be wrong.  She reasons that he's harmless, he can't even hurt humans.  It's best they just leave him alone, and never cross paths with him ever again.  Xander reluctantly agrees, however it's uncertain by the look in his eyes if he truly is in agreeance with the Slayer, but nevertheless the two friends share a hug.  Xander congratulates her on her opening night.  Buffy only smiles, and hugs Xander, but there's a hint of …something else in her eyes.  Sadness?  Fear?  More than likely both.

            Up on the catwalk above the dance floor, Spike mixes in with the crowd and watches as Buffy talks with Xander.  He, too, has a strange look in his eyes.  It's almost like sadness, mixed with disappointment.  He stares down at Buffy almost longingly, and then, slowly, he disappears into the crowd.


End file.
